Here is my understanding: If you bring more than $2000 with you (cash or TC) you are supposed to declare it at customs. That might be as simple as listing on the back of your arrivals customs form.... i'm not 100% sure. You are searched much more thoroughly at DEPARTURE than at arrival... if they find more than $2000 on you when you are leaving, and you neither declared it when you arrived, nor have paperwork to show that you changed rupees into dollars at a bank in Kathmandu for your outbound travel... THEN you're in trouble. I've seen tourists get in trouble at departure security check when the person screening their carry-on found more than $2000 on them (and yes, the security personnel usually do open wallets and document bags), and I've heard of people having their money confiscated at departure! So... here's my advice: Choice 1) DO NOT take more than $500 or so in cash. Take the rest in travellers checks. Carry some documentation with you showing your US income source (you may need it at the bank to cash the TC). Carry the TC in some non-obvious place in your carry-on. It won't show up on the arrivals x-ray machine the way smuggled gold would. Most likely no one will find it. If they do, ask where and how to declare it (you're just arriving so you can get away with acting naive etc). Once you're in KTM... don't cash more than $2000 at any one bank! $8000 in TC will cost you $8-16 in fees at the bank in the US, and again similar amounts in Nepal. Choice 2) Use your ATM card in Nepal. That's what I usually do nowadays. Keep in mind the following: (a) You can withdraw at most $500 at a time, and it will cost you $1-2 in transaction fees... so a total of $16-32 for $8000. I've not been charged fees by the bank in Kathmandu and my bank in the US only charges $1 per transaction. (b) You can usually only access your primary checking account from the machines in Nepal, so make sure your money is in that account, and not in some linked savings account or something. (c) Visit Kathmandu ATMs at a safe time and place, taking someone with you, and having a car/taxi waiting to take you home with the cash. You don't want to risk having a pickpocket follow you from the ATM into a crowded bazaar. Choice 3) Before you leave the US, go talk to your bank's branch manager, and fill out a form permitting the bank to initiate a wire transfer upon receiving a faxed request from you. Take $2000 with you in TC, along with a letter from your employer describing the nature and amount of your income. Go to a bank in KTM, and open a dollar account. Ask them what info is needed for a wire transfer (swift code etc.). Then fax your bank in the US to send you the remaining money. The wiretransfer from the bank in the US might cost around $35 per time (independent of the amount of the transfer); usually it takes only 1-3 days to arrive in KTM. Also keep in mind that you will need to maintain a minimum balance on that account, so you may need to get $8500 or even $9000 from the US to Nepal to have $8000 available right away. So, choice 3 is costlier, and more hassle, but you'll have an account in Nepal set and ready to receive future wiretransfers. If you have more specific questions feel free to e-mail me through sajha.